By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
GREAT BEND — Twenty-plus years went into the making of Aaron Mull's Dolly Madison Murder documentary. The Great Bend High School graduate actually spent approximately 16 months filming, compiling interviews, editing, and searching for a vendor about the 21-year-old double homicide in Great Bend. The documentary premiered at the Crest Theater in March and is now available to stream free on Tubi.
"It's been a long time coming," Mull said. "The project took essentially one year to make and four months to distribute. It feels good that it's finally out there on a large scale, and people beyond Great Bend and the Midwest can reach this story now."
Sunday, Mull also released his deep-dive podcast about the case and the documentary on YouTube.com. The podcast features interviews with parties who contacted Mull after the release of the documentary, including the wife of the truck driver who found the bodies of Mandi Alexander and Mary Drake inside the discount bakery on Sept. 2, 2002. A local hotel clerk also shares her memories of that night.
"I think the podcast, it's what a lot of these people have wanted to say for a long time, but they've either gone to law enforcement, allegedly, and not been taken seriously, or they just haven't felt the need to come forward until now," said Mull. "I'm excited about both being out at the same time because each of them has a different feel, for sure."
While Mull's documentary was a more narrative-based attempt to put the case back before the public, the podcast features more speculation and opinion on why and how things were handled by law enforcement in the days and years following the murders. With law enforcement remaining largely silent about the case, Mull was left with one side of the discussion but said finger-pointing was never the goal.
"We need law enforcement to solve this case," he said. "I'm just a guy with an internet connection. They're the people with the resources and hopefully, someday the time to actually put into this case and other cases like it."
Click the link above to watch the Dolly Madison Murders documentary on Tubi. CLICK HERE to watch Mull's deep-dive podcast about the case.